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Name Place Animal: rules, scoring and 150 categories to play with

Guezzer content team · 14 November 2026

How to play Name Place Animal (also called Categories or Stop): the rules, scoring, how to pick a letter, fair answers, variations and 150 category ideas.

Name Place Animal is the game where someone picks a letter, everyone races to write a name, a place, an animal and a thing that start with it, and the first person to finish shouts “Stop!”. All you need is paper and a pen, it works with two players or twelve, and it has been keeping families busy on long car journeys and rainy afternoons for generations.

Almost every country plays it under its own name. In English it’s Name Place Animal Thing, Categories, or Scattergories after the boxed version. Germans call it Stadt, Land, Fluss, the French Petit Bac, Brazilians Stop or Adedonha, Mexicans Basta, Argentinians Tutti Frutti, and in Turkey it’s İsim Şehir Hayvan. The rules are nearly the same everywhere. What changes is the house rules, and that’s where the arguments come from.

Below are the standard rules, a simple scoring system, how to settle disputes, a dozen variations and 150 categories so you never play the same sheet twice.

What you need

• A sheet of paper and a pen for each player
• Someone to choose the letter (more on that below)
• Optionally, a timer: a phone, a sand timer or a kitchen timer

Each player draws a table on their sheet. The first column is for the letter, then one column per category, and a last column for the round’s points. Five or six categories is the usual number. Fewer makes rounds too quick; more than eight and they drag.

The classic set is: Name, Place, Animal, Thing, Food. Many families add a sixth, such as Job, Film or Famous Person.

How to play

1. Agree on the categories and write them as column headings. Everyone uses the same ones.
2. Pick a letter. One player says “A” out loud and then runs through the alphabet silently in their head. Another player says “Stop” whenever they like, and the letter the first player has reached is the letter for the round. Alternatives are below.
3. Everyone writes. Fill in one answer per category, each starting with that letter. With M, you might write Maria, Madrid, Monkey, Mirror, Mango.
4. Someone shouts “Stop!”. The first player to fill every column calls it, and everyone puts their pen down straight away. If you play with a timer, the round ends when it goes off instead.
5. Read out the answers, category by category, and score them.
6. Add up the round, write the total in the last column and start the next round with a new letter.

Ten rounds make a good game. The highest total at the end wins.

Scoring

The standard scoring is simple:

• 10 points for an answer nobody else wrote.
• 5 points for an answer that someone else also wrote.
• 0 points for a blank or an answer that doesn’t count.

Many groups add one extra rule: 20 points if you are the only player with any valid answer in that category. It rewards people who keep writing until the last second.

Example round, letter B:

Sara wrote one answer fewer than Amy and Tom but still won the round, because all her answers were unique. That’s the real lesson of the game: the obvious answer is often worth half.

What counts as a valid answer

This is where most games fall apart, so agree on these before the first round:

• It has to really start with the letter. “The Netherlands” goes under N, not T. Articles like “the” and “a” don’t count.
• It has to be real and fit the category. A made-up town or a mythical animal doesn’t count, unless the group decides otherwise for fun.
• Spelling has to be close enough to recognise. Nobody should lose points for a missing letter, but “Zebra” doesn’t become a Z-answer for “Sebra”.
• Plurals and variations are the same answer. “Dog” and “Dogs” are one answer; so are “Bike” and “Bicycle”.
• The group decides doubtful cases by majority vote. If it’s a tie, the answer counts. Don’t let one player be the judge of everything.
• No answer can be used twice on the same sheet. “Georgia” can’t be both your Name and your Place.

A good habit: anyone can challenge an answer, but the challenge has to be made when the answer is read out, not three rounds later.

How to pick the letter

The silent alphabet is the classic method, but there are others:

• Letter cards. Write the letters on small pieces of paper, fold them and draw one each round. Put used letters aside so you never repeat one.
• The book method. Open a book at a random page and point to a word without looking. Use its first letter.
• A letter app or a random letter website works too, if someone has a phone handy.

Some letters are almost impossible. Most groups take Q, X, Y and Z out of the game, or keep them for a final bonus round where every answer is worth double.

Variations

Once everyone knows the basics, try changing one rule at a time:

• Timer instead of “Stop”. Give everyone 60 or 90 seconds. Slower writers and younger players get a fair chance, and nobody races to scribble half-answers just to finish first.
• No Stop at all. Everyone writes until the timer runs out, and you can add points for extra answers in each category.
• Out loud, for car journeys. No paper. One category at a time, players take turns answering with the letter, and anyone who can’t think of one within five seconds is out of that round.
• Teams. Pairs or small teams share one sheet. It’s quieter, and good for groups with mixed ages.
• Two letters. Each answer has to start with the first letter and contain the second somewhere. B and R: Brazil, Brother, Bear.
• Last letter. Answers have to end with the letter instead of starting with it. Much harder than it sounds.
• Themed sheets. Every category comes from one theme: all food, all films, all sport, all travel.
• Sentence round. In the last round, write a whole sentence where every word starts with the letter. “Big brown bears bake bread.”
• Kids’ version. Easy categories (colour, animal, food, toy), no time limit, and an adult helps with spelling.

150 categories

Pick five or six for each sheet. Mix easy ones with one or two harder ones, so everyone can score but there’s still something to fight over.

Classic (good for everyone)

• First name
• Boy’s name
• Girl’s name
• City
• Country
• River
• Animal
• Bird
• Fish or sea creature
• Insect
• Fruit
• Vegetable
• Food
• Drink
• Colour
• Thing in the house
• Thing in the kitchen
• Item of clothing
• Body part
• Job
• Sport
• Musical instrument
• Plant or flower
• Means of transport
• School subject

Easy (for younger players)

• Toy
• Something round
• Something red
• Something soft
• Something in a classroom
• Something in a garden
• Cartoon character
• Farm animal
• Pet name
• Sweet or dessert
• Something in a supermarket
• Something with wheels
• Something that flies
• Something that makes a noise
• Breakfast food
• Ice cream flavour
• Something you take to the beach
• Something in the bathroom
• Something you wear in winter
• Something in a fairy tale

Pop culture

• Film
• TV series
• Singer or band
• Song
• Actor or actress
• Famous person
• Footballer
• Brand
• Book or author
• Video game
• Superhero or villain
• Children’s TV character
• Car brand
• Social media app or website
• Board game
• Fictional character
• Comedian
• Cartoon or animated film
• Famous landmark
• Something you’d see in a music video

Food and drink

• Pizza topping
• Sandwich filling
• Something you put on toast
• Cheese
• Herb or spice
• Cocktail or mocktail
• Hot drink
• Something you’d find in a bakery
• Dish from another country
• Something you’d eat at a picnic
• Something sour
• Something you eat with a spoon
• Something you’d order in a restaurant
• Something in a lunchbox
• Street food
• Snack
• Something you put in a soup
• Something you’d cook on a barbecue

Places and travel

• Capital city
• Holiday destination
• Island
• Mountain or mountain range
• Something you’d see at an airport
• Something you pack in a suitcase
• Shop
• Something you find in a city centre
• Building
• Sea or lake
• Something in a hotel room
• Place you’d go on a date
• Tourist attraction
• Something you’d see on a road trip
• Language

Harder (for experienced players)

• Chemical element
• Famous scientist or inventor
• Historical figure
• Word with more than ten letters
• Adjective that describes a person
• Verb
• Something invisible
• Something older than 100 years
• Disease or illness
• Unit of measurement
• Tool
• Piece of furniture
• Something made of metal
• Dance
• Hobby
• Something you can’t buy
• Mythical creature
• Profession that didn’t exist 30 years ago
• Something that has keys
• Word that sounds funny

Funny (for a relaxed evening)

• Excuse for being late
• Something you shouldn’t say at a wedding
• Reason to call in sick
• Something you’d find under the sofa
• Bad name for a pet
• Something you’d hide from your parents
• Terrible gift idea
• Thing that annoys you on public transport
• Something you’d shout on a rollercoaster
• Silly name for a band
• Something you’d do with a million pounds
• Last thing you’d want to hear from a pilot
• Something that’s always lost when you need it
• Bad advice
• Thing people do in the lift
• Something you’d find in a teenager’s bedroom
• Worst thing to forget on holiday

Work-friendly (for the office)

• Something on your desk
• Thing you’d say in a meeting
• Office supply
• Software or app
• Job title
• Company you know
• Something in the office kitchen
• Excuse for missing a deadline
• Something you’d take on a business trip
• Skill you’d put on a CV
• Thing that happens on a video call
• Department in a company
• Something you’d find in a meeting room
• Reason to celebrate at work
• Something you’d do in a lunch break

That makes 150. If you want more, take any two categories and combine them: “Animal that lives in water”, “Food that’s yellow”, “Famous person from your country”.

Tips for getting better

• Start with the hardest column. The easy ones (Name, Food) come quickly. Spend your first seconds on the one you usually leave blank.
• Skip the first answer that comes to mind. If you thought of it in a second, so did everyone else. A unique answer is worth twice as much.
• Write something rather than nothing. A shared answer still scores half points. An empty box scores zero.
• Keep a mental list for hard letters. A few places, animals and names for K, U and V will save you a lot of rounds.
• Listen during scoring. You’ll pick up answers you can use next time the letter comes round.

When it goes wrong

• The same person shouts “Stop!” every round. Switch to a timer for a few rounds, or give fast players a handicap: they have to write one extra category.
• The arguments take longer than the round. Agree on the rules for valid answers before you start, and vote quickly on doubtful cases.
• Younger players can’t keep up. Let them play in a team with an adult, or give them an extra 30 seconds.
• Nobody can think of anything for a letter. Skip the letter, take it out of the game and draw a new one.
• People get bored after five rounds. Change the categories halfway through. A new sheet feels like a new game.

Playing on your phones

Name Place Animal works best with paper, but if you’re on a video call or don’t have pens to hand, a few phone games scratch the same itch. In Off the List, each round shows a category such as “Excuses for being late”, and the AI secretly seals the fifteen most obvious answers before anyone writes a word. Your team scores only with valid answers that aren’t on its list, which rewards exactly the same skill as a good unique answer in Name Place Animal. It takes 3 to 12 players. Open a room on play.guezzer.com and everyone joins in their phone’s browser with the room code.

For more games of the same kind, see word games to play with friends and quick games to play with friends.

Questions people ask

How many players do you need? Two is enough, although scoring is more interesting with three or more. Beyond ten, play in teams so reading the answers out doesn’t take forever.

Is Name Place Animal the same as Scattergories? Almost. Scattergories is a boxed version with printed category lists, a lettered die and a timer. The paper game is the original, and you can make your own lists.

How long is a round? Usually one to two minutes of writing and two to three minutes of scoring. Ten rounds take around half an hour to forty minutes.

What’s the best number of categories? Five or six. With fewer the rounds feel too short, with more than eight the scoring takes longer than the writing.

Which letters should you leave out? Most groups take out Q, X, Y and Z. Some also remove letters that are hard in their language, or keep them for a final double-points round.

The best part

The best moments in Name Place Animal are never the high scores. They’re the answers: the friend who wrote “Kangaroo” under Place because there’s definitely a town called that somewhere, the five-minute debate about whether a tomato is a fruit, the grandparent who knows every river in Europe. Keep the old sheets. Reading them a year later is half the fun.